Ann Sudmalis Biography

Ann Sudmalis Bio

Ann Elizabeth Sudmalis was born on16th September 1955. She is an Australian politician and a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Gilmore in New South Wales, since September 2013. On 17th September 2018, Ann Sudmalis announced that she would not contest in the coming polls.

Ann Sudmalis Personal details

Ann Sudmalis Age

16 September 1955 (age 63) in Milton, New South Wales, Australia

Ann Sudmalis Nationality

Australian

Ann Sudmalis Political party

Liberal Party of Australia

Ann Sudmalis Parents

Norrie Hardinge (father) and Valerie (mother)

Ann Sudmalis Husband

Married to Gran with 3 children,

Ann Sudmalis Children

3

Profession

Teacher; politician

Ann Sudmalis Salary

Base salary $200,000

Member of the Australian Parliament for Gilmore

Incumbent

Assumed office
7 September 2013

Preceded by

Joanna Gash

Majority

0.7%

Ann Sudmalis Family

Sudmalis was born in Milton, New South Wales. Her parents are Norrie Hardinge (father) and Valerie (mother). Sudmalis father was a manual arts teacher and freelance photographer for the local newspaper while her mother was a British immigrant. Sudmalis has one brother, Stuart. As a child, Sudmalis and her family moved to Sydney to live with her grandmother.

Sudmalis and her family moved to Kiama where she started a fudge business, Gran’s Fudge, with her husband in 1988. In her maiden speech, Sudmalis said of this business “We changed a small cottage industry with just three employees to a business with over 40 staff, exporting to six international destinations.” She was company director for 17 years, from 1988-2005.

Sudmalis has three adult children

Ann Sudmalis Early Life and Education

Sudmalis completed an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree at Australian National University (ANU) and a Diploma in Education at Canberra College of Advanced Education (CCAE).

Sudmalis worked as a waitress, cook, and cleaner from 1974-1977, and as a science teacher for ten years, from 1979-1988, in Canberra.

In 2003 Sudmalis spent six months in India as a volunteer teacher. In 2006 she worked as a community art teacher. Sudmalis completed a master’s degree in education at Charles Sturt University and in 2011 taught part-time at the University of Wollongong as a tutor for the Diploma of Education program. Sudmalis worked as an electorate officer from 2007-2012. She undertook a Certificate IV in Visual Arts in 2012.

Ann Sudmalis Political career Highlights

1996 – 2013 Sudmalis served as a councillor on the Kiama Council and worked as an advisor to Joanna Gash, the member for Gilmore.

In 2007 New South Wales state election, Sudmalis contested the seat of Kiama, running unsuccessfully against Labor incumbent Matt Brown.

April 2012 – Following Gash’s decision to retire from politics at the 2013 federal election, Sudmalis won Liberal pre-selection for Gilmore and was elected with 52.65% of the two-party preferred vote.

In November 2014 it was announced that the Australian government would be reducing the ABC budget by $254 million, in spite of a pre-election promise by Tony Abbott not to cut the ABC’s funding. The ABC managing director, Mark Scott, later announced where the cuts would affect, one area of which was the ABC’s Nowra office. Sudmalis released an open letter to Mark Scott declaring his decision “appalling,” “deplorable” and that he was “taking the easy way out” by allowing the Nowra branch to be closed and not targeting more cuts to metropolitan areas.

In 2015 Sudmalis claimed that her opposition to same-sex marriage was based on the views of her conservative constituents. A survey that Sudmalis sent to her mailing list resulted in 1552 community members in support of marriage equality versus 893 opposing it. Sudmalis made clear her support for a national referendum to decide the issue.

At the end of 2015, the NSW Liberal Government proposed the forced council amalgamation between Kiama Council and Shoalhaven City Council. Sudmalis condemned the proposal along with the Liberal State member for Kiama, Gareth Ward. At a community meeting in April 2016, Sudmalis accidentally signed a petition that indicated that she would vote against herself and her Liberal state party colleagues at subsequent federal and state elections in protest. A preselection challenge was discussed at local liberal branch level but did not eventuate.

Sudmalis was narrowly re-elected at the 2016 federal election with a margin of 0.7%, making Gilmore the most marginal federal seat in New South Wales. Following the decision of the Australian Fair Work Commission to reduce penalty rates of hospitality, retail, fast-food and pharmacy workers, Sudmalis described the change as a “gift” to young people, prompting a sustained attack from the Opposition in question time.

On 15 August 2017, it was confirmed that Sudmalis was seeking confirmation of her possible British citizenship, which would render her unable to be a member of parliament.

Ann Sudmalis announces she won’t Contest in the upcoming Elections

On 17th September 2018, Ann Sudmalis announced that she would not contest in the coming polls, blaming what she called ego-driven bullying, betrayal, and backstabbing by Gareth Ward, a Liberal member of state parliament for an electorate that overlaps hers. During her time as the local member, the Liberal party branches in the Gilmore electorate have collapsed in numbers. A preselection challenge was again discussed before the next Australian Federal election due to her rising unpopularity. However Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, treasurer Scott Morrison, and other senior Liberal party members, personally intervened to ensure Sudmalis was preselected for the next election.

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